Somerish language
Somerish is the official language of the Shires of Somery, and spoken by few people outside its borders. At a quick glance the Somerish language resembles Ingallish, with which it is related, but its grammar is slightly different, and its vocabulary, and, to a certain degree, its spelling is quite archaic in comparison. Most Somerish people have quite a good knowledge of Ingallish, though. Vocabulary The main reason for the difference in vocabulary between Somerish and Ingallish is that more than half of the Ingallish words are loanwords, mainly from Liliani, while Somerish has kept most of its original words, e.g. lore for science, tilth for agriculture, kingly for royal, chirtness for beauty etc., and the incorporation of several Classical Estron words, e.g. kirth for music, and pridworth for beautiful, alongside with Ingallish ones. You can also find more archaic spellings, like the kept 'l' in whilch, Ing. which, and sulch, Ing. such, and that some words have developped differently in comparison which Ingallish, e.g. altheigh, Ing. although, swote, Ing. sweat (noun), yieve, Ing. give. Pronunciation Generally the Somerish pronunciation is more orthographic than the Ingallish. E.g. 'gh' after 'i' at the end of words and between 'i' and 't' in words like 'night' and 'right' is clearly audible as a palatal fricative, 'wh' is a voiceless equivalent to the voiced 'w', the 'k' is audible as a light 'd' sound in words like 'knight' and 'know', and the 'w' in e.g. 'write' can be heard as a 'v'-sound. The pronunciation of the long 'i' differs in that although it is a diphthong like in Ingallish /ai/ the stress is on the second vowel, the 'i', instead of the 'a', which is also more obscure than in its Ingallish counterpart. Dialects Dialectwise there are few variations, although people in the larger cities tend to speak more clearly than in the rural areas. A slightly rolling 'r' is more common in the northern shires, where also diphthongs are less marked. Ingallish spoken in Christiana is jokingly referred to, by the Somerish, as brawdish or troat. Keeping the Speech is an organization working for the banning of new loanwords and for the invention of purely Somerish words in their place, e.g. fernspeaker for telephone, and wireless for radio, although some of these inventions may seem impractical and confusing in the increasingly global society we see developping today. Grammar Somerish grammar is not quite as polished as that of Ingallish. The most noticeable differences are probably the case inflections of the pronouns and the definite article, the more complicated verb inflections with a larger number of strong verbs, and the wider use of the plural ending ''-en'' in words like brother-brethren. Other irregular plurals are also more common. Nouns The Somerish language knows only two genders, the common gender (a merge of the Old English masculine and feminine genders), and the neuter. The only differences are the definite article in nom. sing., and that most neuter words have the same forms in the singular and the plural. The various forms of the definite article are as follows: Most common nouns form their plurals by adding an ''-s'', using the same rules as Ingallish. There are quite a few exceptions, though, usually nouns ending in ''-e'' using the plural ending ''-n''. e.g. One neuter word follows this rule: Most neuter words, though, have no ending in the plural, e.g. Some nouns have developed irregular plural forms, e.g. Some nouns have a vowel change in the plural without an ending, e.g. Nouns ending in -end, based on the present participle, are usually unchanged in the plural. Adjectives Adjectives have two forms, weak and strong. The weak is used when the adjective is preceded by the definite article or a demonstrative or possessive adjective of some form, and is formed by adding an ''-e'' unless the adjective already ends with that letter. The strong form, using the ''-e'' only in the plural, is used in all other contexts. Adjectives ending with an ''-y'' replace this with ''-iye''. Comparison is formed by adding ''-er'', and ''-est''. Some adjectives mutate in comparative and superlative, e.g. Some adjectives have irregular comparison, e.g. An unstressed ''-e-'' in the last syllable of a disyllabic adjective is generally dropped when the word is inflected. Note that if an adjective is used as a noun it keeps its uninflected form in the singular, while the inflected one is used in the plural. Adverbs Adverbs are usually formed by adding ''-lish'', or, if an adjective ends in ''-ly'', by changing it to ''-lish''. In some cases it is formed by simply adding an ''-e''. Comparison is formed in the same way as adjectives, some also have irregular forms, e.g. Numerals A few of the numerals are inflected according to the cases. They are Personal Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns There are no special reflexive pronouns but the ordinary personal pronouns are used, with self used emphatically, e.g. igh minde me, I remember, igh minde me self, I myself remember. Relative Pronouns In formal written language whilch and who are normally used as relative pronouns, but in the spoken language and less formal prose whit is very common, basically a corruption of whilch, often preceded by the definite article in a suitably inclined form. Possessive Adjectives The accusative is used as an absolute form, e.g. this house is our/e/n, these house been ourne. Demonstrative Adjectives Like yon is som. Interrogative Pronouns & Adjecives Like whilch are swilch such; thilch the like, similar; ealch each, every; som some; and eller other. Verbs Somerish verbs can be divided into 4 groups; Weak regular, weak irregular, strong, and auxiliary. Regular Regular verbs follow simple rules, keeping the root unchanged in all forms. Irregular Irregular verbs usually have a mutated vowel in the 2nd and 3rd pers. in the present tense, and changes vowel and sometimes also a consonant in the past tense and past participle.The verbs were no doubt regular once but have developed into their present state over time. Strong Strong verbs change vowels both in the past tense and in the past participle, which always ends in -(e)n. Auxiliary The auxiliary verb can be either weak or strong. The pt. part. has sometimes kept the prefix e-/ye-. Ye- is usually used when the vocal of the following syllable is an long e or a short i (e.g. yewrit, yedealed), otherwise e- is used (e.g. ecomen, eclept). Sample text Fellow Ethelings! Brethren and Sustren thisses meyth hight the Somerishe Thede! This day, the eighteithe Rimes thes thridde hund teenthiyethe year thes aftereld, is an sunderly day, altheigh an day, whilches igh can wislish quethe, we all feelon should naye have worden behoved. Thet Somerkin is an frithsome thede. We havon clipped and wurthed thissen frith for neigh on thridde hund teenty yere, sithen them handset thes Ewsteth Writ. We navon had neny flit mid ourem neighbours for mo thonne neyne streins. This warth all oncherred litte less thonne therteene yere agone. An theser neighbours cherred loathwend and aredde to emsette thissen land, ouren kith and ethel. Our freet warth awaned. Our selfwield forloren. After teene yere the stathel thisses hettend crumde under hissem feet and it fell. Our leesing should be ewerd rathe, ack we muston bide for thrim mo yere. Thean, the day is ecomen. Fram thissem day forth been we ayen lowards ours own wierd. We been an frithsome thede. We ne dwellon on thome thing thore yoredays. We ne haldon neniyen tharf to be thankfulle, thean thankon we ourem Cruisanishe meyfolk, speled here on thissem day by heirem King. We ne haldon neniye onds. Ouren may ne be thet michlieste land on them trendle, othe even thet wlitefulmoste. Ouren may ne be the mearlieste thede. We leavon it to ellerem folk to foreyelpe swilche whilchnesses. This is, theigh, our land, our kith and ethel, thet erf whilchen warth left to us and whilchen warth us yarowed by ourem eldren. This is our thede, our meyth, our liefs. Swettle we them world that mennishly wesend cunnon live on frith and glewship, on evenherteness and foryiveness, mid heirem neighbours, and mid hem self, to forswinsome tho wlites and afewings thes life, tosomne. Thank you! ''Fellow Countrymen! ''Brothers and Sisters of this family which we call the Somerish People! ''This day, the 18th of November in the year 300 AP, is a special day, although a day of which I can with certainty say we all feel should never have been necessary. The Somerish are a peaceful people. We have cherished and respected this peace for almost three centuries, since the signing of the Ewsteth Writ. We have had no quarrel with our neighbours for more than nine generations. This was all changed little less than thirteen years ago. One of these neighbours turned hostile and decided to occupy this country, our home and fatherland. Our freedom was restricted. Our independence lost. After ten years the foundation of this enemy crumbled under its feet and it fell. Our liberation should have been immediate but we had to wait for three more years. ''Nevertheless, the day is come. From this day forth we are again masters of our own destiny. We are a peaceful people. We do not dwell on things of the past. We feel no need to be grateful, yet we thank our Christianan cousins, represented here today by their King. We have no grudges. ''Ours may not be the greatest country on the globe, or even the most beautiful. Ours may not be the most glorious people. We leave it to others to brag about such qualities. This is, though, our country, our home and fatherland, the heritage that was left to us and that was prepared by our forefathers. This is our people, our family, our loved ones. Let us show the world that man is able to live in peace and mutual understanding, in harmony and forgiveness with his neighbours, and with himself, enjoying the beauties and joys of life, together. ''Thank You! External link *http://home.swipnet.se/~w-64324/somery/somwords.htm A Somerish wordlist image:techsign.gif Category:Languages